Multiple SIPS grad students received awards for their talks and poster presentations at the recent CANVAS 2025 meeting, held November 9-12 in Salt Lake City, Utah. CANVAS, formerly the ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, is where Crop, Agronomic, Environmental, and Soil Sciences connect and inspire change to impact scientific advancement.

Marjorie Hanneman, a PhD student in the program of Mike Gore, received second place for the Crop Breeding and Genetics 5-minute Rapid Oral Competition. Her talk was entitled “Compositional Sorghum Trait Prediction with Portable Near-Infrared Spectroscopy”.

Amy Lam, a PhD student with Enid Martinez, won first place for her poster presentation in the Soil Chemistry division (SSSA – Soil Science Society of America). Her presentation title was “Mechanisms of Erythromycin Sorption Onto Layer Silicates and Metal Oxides.”

Andrea Sanchez,  a Fulbright Scholar from Chile and a PhD candidate in the Bauerle lab, won first for her talk and poster at the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) conference. Her talk and poster were entitled, “Decoding belowground carbon dynamics: insights into root exudation and root traits under water limitation in maize inbred lines”.

Sam Wallace, a PhD student in Matt Ryan’s program, won 2nd place in the Climatology and Modeling Section graduate student competition. His presentation was titled, “Process-Based Approaches to Evaluate High-Biomass Cover Crop Soybean Systems”.

Nazir (Adam) Sharifi, also a PhD student in Matt Ryan’s program, won 3rd place in the Organic Management Systems Community graduate student competition. His presentation was entitled, “Addressing System Constraints to Improve Organic No-till Corn Yield in Rolled-Crimped Cover Crops”. Adam also served as the moderator for the Organic Management Systems Community Oral Session.